The First Annual “Holy Oly” Contest At Snoqualmie

March 03, 2004

Like Red Bull down Andy Forgash’s throat, the fine folks of Summit At Snoqualmie and Lib Technologies sure know how to keep the true North West pride flowing: partly cloudy skies with a light rain sprinkle here and there, one two-person chairlift, a hand-dug quarterpipe, and yes, a 40 foot tall water tower painted like a can of Oly beer. What better set up for the first annual “Holy Oly Revival” quarterpipe jam?

Originally designed as an invitation-only event, The Summit and Lib Tech decided to keep it true North West fashion by adding 30 spots for the lurking rulers who didn’t make the invite list. “This is a hype-free, anti contest,” says Summit Youth Marketing Manager Krush Kulesza. “Just a reason for old, middle, and new school riders to hang out together and be stoked on where we call home.” That’s exactly what it was too. Just good old fashion qp session in jam format that brought young and old alike to the hill for good times and shredding the hand-carved tomb stone. It wasn’t anything ginormous like you’d see at a stadium contest in Europe, but for the time and place, it didn’t matter.

The ams were throwing down sweet moves in the presence of NW legends Joey McGuire and Peter Line: you could tell the intimidation factor was in their brains for the first hour or so, but as the mellow atmosphere set in, it was just a bunch of North West brethren keepin’ it real and having fun. Highlights of the session were a plenty. Aside from professional heckler Terry Parker shooting roman candles at Peter and spectators, the double line performed by Jesse Burtner and Sean Genovese was insane in the membrain. Sean threw a wicked mute over Jesse who in sync did a gnar lay back slash like he was in the green room at your favorite surf spot. Another notable that deserves recondition goes to John Laing for the best “over the top” award. Everyone went over the other side, but Laing took the can when he slipped off his edge and froze mid air in “super man” position with a smooth transition to “lawn dart” position, eventually landing on his dome. Applause erupted as he poked his head out, unscathed from the treachery.

Which brings us to Peter Line. Peter took a solid over the deck slam that looked and sounded like a slab of lamb hitting a block of ice. Face bloody and a little sore, it didn’t stop captain Pete one bit. He was one of the first to line (no pun intended) up for the jumping and was the last to leave. No sign of that kid getting rusty, that’s for sure. Throwing down huge straight airs, huge air to fakies, and almost getting the corked 900 landed on the wall of ice, Peterman walked away with a brand new Audi A4 and $10,000. Oh crap, wrong story. Sorry about that. Peter walked away with a new skateboard, a few T-shirts he ended up throwing to some of the wide-eyed kids in the crowd, and a brand new Lib Tech snowboard with the graphics from the contest on the top sheet. In this contest, the Audi came in the version of a 12 pack of Oly beer. Oh-so sweet

Second place went to the unofficial mayor of Wenache Washington, Joey McGuire (duh again). If it’s fun, in the North West, has no hype, and has anything to do with friends just chillin, Joey is there. With a smile on his face and no goggles on, Joey was digging, sculpting, and riding with the rest of the crew. He broke out a few of his signature methods. That, combined with his smile and all around good attitude made Joey a favorite with the spectators as well the other shreds. Now, get ready for next years “Holy Oly,” cause it’s rare to find a good “just for the hell of it” contest these days. Something tells me this will be the new freestyle version of the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom.